Howard tries to help 5-year-old Harlem girl who needs a kidney

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HARLEM -- Maria Campos is a bubbly 5-year-old who deserves a normal life. But she can’t have it unless you can help.

Maria has a disease that has destroyed her kidneys. She’s on dialysis three times a week, three hours each time.

Her parents, Edgar and Amaria and her little sister Natalia live in a cramped two-room apartment in Spanish Harlem. Right now, helping Maria is her parents’ only concern.

Maria is under care at Mt. Sinai’s pediatric nephrology unit. One of her physicians, Dr. Hilary Hotchkiss, says Maria is a good candidate for a kidney transplant.

“Maria is at risk for the progression of abnormalities in her growth, abnormalities in her bones. She takes several medications in addition to the dialysis treatments. There’s no doubt with a kidney transplant there’s no doubt the quality of her life and the length of her life would be dramatically improved.”

People can live perfectly fine with just one kidney. And I learned that a child like Maria can accept a kidney from an adult. The only requirements for being Maria’s donor are that you must be in good physical and mental health and have type O blood.

Can you help Maria live a normal life? If you think you can – or if you’d just like to find out more information about kidney donation – send an email to our special address: